Hand powered swing



April 1961 H. c. MCNEIL 2,980,164

HAND POWERED SWING Filed July 6, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 jf d A I +3 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,980,164 HAND POWERED SWING Homer C. McNeil, San Antonio, Tex., assign'or of fifty percent to Edgar A. Gittinger, In, San Antonio, Tex.

Filed July 6, 1959, Ser. No. 825,147 4 Claims. (Cl. 155-'6'5) The present invention relates to a hand powered swing and particularly to such a swing which 1s hand powered by the user. 7

The primary object of the invention-1s to provlde a leverage system on a swing to permit the user of the swing to institute and maintain swinging motion of the swing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a swing of the class described above which simulates the body of a conventional airplane or the like.

A further object of the invention is to provide a swing structure having a hand operated lever positioned adjacent the swing seat to be readily grasped by both hands of the user.

' Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following specification when considered in light of the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation of the mounting of the swing;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line 33 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view of the swing;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 4, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical section taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 4, looking'in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures, the reference numeral 10 indicates generally a hand powered swing constructed in accordance with the invention.

The hand powered swing 10 includes a generally horizontal cross bar 11 supported by a pair of divergentlegs 12 at each end thereof. A pair of inverted U-shaped brackets 13 are secured to the bar 11 in spaced apart parallel relation by a pair of bolts 14, as seen in Figure 2. An elongated upright support member 15 has its upper end 1-6 positioned in the U-shaped bracket 13 and pivotally secured thereto by a horizontal pivot pin 17. The

2,980,164 Patented Apr. 18,- 1 961 thereof. A pair of cars 27 are arranged on opposite sides of the lever 25 and are rigidly secured in depending relation to the frame members 23. A shaft 28 extends transversely through the ears 27, pivotally mounting the lever 25 thereto at a point spaced well above the lower end 29 of the lever 25. A second pair of ears 30 are secured in depending relation to the frame members 23 adjacent the rear end of the body 20. A bell crank lever, generally indicated at 31, is journalled on the ears 30 by a shaft 32 intermediate the opposite ends thereof and has 21 depending arm 33 as Well as a rearwardly extending generally horizontal arm 34 integrally secured to the depending arm 33. v

The lower end 29 of the lever 25 is connected to the depending arm 33 of the bell crank lever 31 by an elongated connecting rod 35. Movement of the lever 25 about its pivot shaft 28 will rock the bell crank lever 31 about its pivot shaft 32 so as to oscillate the horizontal arm 34 in a substantially vertical path. An inverted U- shaped bracket 36 is secured to the bar 11 by a bolt 37 intermediate the brockets 13. The bracket 36 is somewhat longer than the brackets 13 and extends below the bar 11 further than the brackets 13. A bell crank lever, generally indicated at 38, has an upright arm 39 and a generally horizontal arm 40 arranged perpendicularly thereto. The upper end of the upright arm 39 is mounted in the bracket 36 on a horizontal pivot pin 41. The pivot pin 41 has its axis parallel to the axis of the bar 11 and spaced substantially below the pivot pins 17. The upright arm 39 of the bell crank lever 38 is pro vided with a slot 42 extending longitudinally thereof adjacent the juncture of the arm 39 with the arm 4t). The

pivot pins 17 at opposite ends of the bar 11 are arranged in axially aligned relation parallel to the axis of the bar 11.

The support members 15 depend in generally parallel relation from the bar 11 and are connected by a transverse shaft 18 adjacent the upper ends thereof. The transverse shaft 18 extends completely through the support members 15 and is secured therein by cotter keys 19 at opposite ends thereof.

A swing body, generally indicated'at 20, is positioned between the lower ends of the support members 15 and has the opposite sides 21 thereof rigidly secured to the support members 15 by vertically spaced Securing element 22. The body 20 is supported on a pair of spaced apart longitudinally extending frame members 23, ex-

transverse shaft 18 connecting the support members 15 extends through the slot 42 and has an anti-friction bearing 43 mounted thereon engaging in the slot 42 to reduce the friction between the walls of the slot 42 and the shaft 18.

A connecting rod 44 has its lower end connected to the end of the horizontal arm 34 of the bell crank lever 31 opposite the pivot shaft 32. The upper end of the connecting rod 44 is secured to the end of the horizontal arm 40 of the bell crank lever 38 opposite the slot 42.

In the use and operation of the invention, the swing body 20 supports an occupant seated on the seat 24. The occupant grasps the hand grips 26 at the upper end of the lever 25 and moves the lever 25, swinging it on the pivot shaft 28. The motion of the lever 25 causes the bell crank lever 31 to swing on its pivot shaft 32 moving the connecting rod 44 to swing the bell crank lever 38 about its pivot pin 41. As the bell crank lever 38 swings about its pivot pin 41, the shaft 18 extending through the slot 42 is caused to move in a direction to swing the support members 15 on their pivot pins 17. Continued oscillating of the lever 25 will cause the body 20 rigidly secured to the support members 15 to swing on the pivot pins 17 as long as the occupant maintains the motion thereof.

Having thus described the preferred embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the appended ally upright support members rigidly secured to said body at their lower ends and pivotally secured to said support bar at their upper ends, said body being adapted to swing in an are having an axis parallel to the axis of said horizontal support bar, a hand operated swinging lever pivotally mounted on said body, a first bell crank lever pivotally mounted on said horizontal bar, said bell crank lever having an elongated generally vertical slot formed therein, a shaft extending transversely through said support members and through said slot for sliding movement in said slot connecting said bell crank lever to said support members, and means including a second bell crank lever pivotally mounted on said body, a connecting rod extending between said second bell crank lever and said hand-operated lever and a second connecting rod extending between said second bell crank lever and said first bell crank lever for connecting said hand operated lever to said bell crank lever to cause swinging movement of said support members upon swinging movement of said hand operated lever.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first bell crank lever has a generally upright arm, a generally horizontal arm rigidly secured to the lower end of said generally upright arm, and said generally upright arm having the upper end thereof secured to said bar by a pivot having its axis spaced substantially below the pivot axis of said support members.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first bell crank lever has an elongated generally vertical slot formed therein and the means connecting said support members and said bell crank lever comprises a shaft extending transversely through said support members and through said slot for sliding movement in said slot.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said shaft has an anti-friction bearing mounted thereon engaged in said slot for reducing the friction between said shaft and the walls of said slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,468,569 Kaiser Sept. 18, 1923 1,603,052 Kolell Oct. 12, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS 399,267 Great Britain Oct. 5, 1933 24,153 Finland Sept. 29, 1950 942,713 Germany May 9, 1956 

